FE commissioner’s powers need ‘consideration’

Further education leaders have told of concerns about the proposed FE Commissioner’s two-week timescale for deciding the fate of struggling colleges.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) and the University and College Union (UCU) have both said that the government’s plans for a powerful FE Commissioner needed further consideration.

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock announced the plans this month as part of the government’s Rigour and Responsiveness in Skills strategy.

The strategy said a commissioner would be sent in if a college was graded inadequate by Ofsted, was in financial trouble or was failing to hit learner success targets.

The proposed timescales appear rushed”

He or she could call for institutions to be given administered college status, thereby losing powers such as staff changes, expenditure or transfer of assets.

They could also recommend governors be kicked out — and ultimately could call for a college to be dissolved.

However, the commissioner would be expected to have finished his or her investigations within a fortnight.

Joy Mercer, AoC director of education policy, said: “While speeding up necessary intervention may be a good thing, the proposed timescales appear rushed.”

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said: “We would raise the red flag about the very short two-week timeframe to decide the fate of a college.”

She added: “This timescale needs to be made significantly longer to protect the interests of staff and students.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), said: “We are meeting with Ofsted, the Skills Funding Agency as well as FE sector representatives to ensure there is clarity over respective roles, and will communicate fuller information on how arrangements will work once the commissioner has been appointed.”

However, Lynne Sedgmore, 157 Group executive director, wondered what thresholds would apply “between placing a college into administration, replacing its governing body and dissolving it altogether.”

“The commissioner will need to take into account a wide range of views from relevant stakeholders — not least from learners — when forming their opinion on how to intervene,” she said.

Norman Crowther, national official for post-16 education at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “Would it not be simpler to commission Learning and Skills Improvement Service support for the 4 per cent of struggling colleges and to work with the FE Guild on how it manages challenges to colleges?”

The BIS spokesperson said: “We shortly will be seeking expressions of interest for both this role and the group of FE advisers who will support the commissioner.”

For more on Ms Mercer’s take on the FE Commissioner plans, see her expert piece.

The statistics tell the story

The government wants an FE commissioner to step in when a college is deemed to be failing. Most colleges improve by themselves . . . so what role would he or she have, asks Joy Mercer

In its  ‘Rigour and Responsiveness’ paper, the government suggests a new tough line on college failure, proposing the appointment of an FE commissioner.

Within a fortnight of one of three triggers for intervention being ‘tripped’, he or she would advise ministers on the following options: to take over a college and decide whether a restructuring is required; to replace some or all of the governing body; to dissolve the college.

It is useful to provide some perspective here: 64 per cent of colleges are good or better by Ofsted’s own judgments. Only four colleges out of 54 have been graded as inadequate this year. There is only one case in the past five years or more where a general FE college has been judged on two separate occasions as inadequate.

Since 2009 there have been two colleges who have not only ‘jumped’ out of inadequacy, but within a year achieved a ‘good’ grade from Ofsted.

Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw complained to the Education Select Committee in February that there were no consequences for colleges of a poor inspection. We wrote to Graham Stuart, the committee chair, with an  analysis of what had happened to colleges deemed inadequate with evidence to the contrary – it is clear that there are often serious consequences for the senior management team.

Most colleges improve by themselves – a tribute to analytical governance and competent management.”

What of existing powers? Under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and later amendments, the government already has powers to appoint new members of the governing body, direct the governing body to take actions which the Education Secretary thinks ‘expedient as to the exercise of their powers and performance of their duties’, direct the governors to collaborate with another college or a maintained school, or to dissolve the college (at which point the normal rules about dissolution apply).

But before any of this can take place, the Skills Funding Agency implements its intervention process — which gives 15 months to support improvement or decide on a different structure.

Rigour and Responsiveness is a consultation paper and an FE commissioner may be an inevitability. If that is the case, what should the role look like, given the evidence above?

First, it might be most proportionate, efficient and realistic to appoint a competent civil servant on a case-by-case basis to make an evaluation of the problem and galvanise the resources to solve it. A commissioner could be a function rather than an individual.

Second, the one size fits all nature of the proposals – in which different triggers provoke the same response (‘the commissioner in action’), could be re-examined. The college that has lost a major contract that destabilises its finances needs a different expertise and set of timescales to recover than the college judged to be failing on teaching, learning and assessment.

In a wider sense, there is a general danger in applying a broad brush approach to colleges in terms of improvement interventions. In the same way that a hospital might house pockets of clinical excellence and struggling departments, a college might have outstanding departments and those requiring improvement. This is not hiding behind complexity; it is simply describing the complexity.

Fourth, the proposed timescales appear rushed. Two weeks to make a final decision with such important implications may, in most circumstances, be too short.

Finally, let’s bear in mind that the most colleges improve by themselves – a tribute to analytical governance and competent management. So the oft and effective weapon in a commissioner’s armoury should be to support the college’s own improvement plan through resources and a watchful eye, and not just in exceptional circumstances.

Joy Mercer, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges

 

Plea for equality on sixth-forms

The head of the Association of Colleges (AoC) has called on Education Secretary Michael Gove to ensure schools opening a new sixth form have good or outstanding Ofsted grades.

Martin Doel, the association’s chief executive, wrote to Mr Gove saying that as colleges needed either of Ofsted’s two top gradings to take on 14 to 16-year-olds, the same should apply to schools and academies that wanted to open sixth forms.

Mr Doel said that since the appointments of Mr Gove and Sir Michael Wilshaw as head of Ofsted, the education sector had been “absolutely clear” that neither would accept anything less than good or outstanding.

He added: “AoC’s FE, sixth-form and specialist college members welcome this stance and are working hard to ensure they meet these high standards.”

 Schools and colleges should be on an equal footing”

He argued this was reflected in the policy that a college wishing to enrol 14 to 16-year-olds full time would require a good or outstanding Ofsted grade. If it had been deemed satisfactory (Ofsted’s former grade three rating) before September 2012, it would have to have shown consistent improvement in success rates between 2008 and 2011.

David Igoe, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said Mr Doel’s suggestion was “logical and fair”.

However, he said that Ofsted grades should not be the primary consideration.

“Clearly we would want equality of treatment . . . [but] the important criteria and limiting hurdle for any institution wishing to expand its provision should be whether there is a need for that expansion in the first place,” he said.

Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the suggestion.

He said: “Saying schools should be in a robust state seems to be a reasonable approach to take — schools and colleges should be on an equal footing.”

A Department for Education spokesperson told FE Week they would not expect proposals for new sixth forms to be approved if there was any doubt on standards.

They added: “Ministers are considering whether any changes need to be made to the approval process for a range of school changes, including the addition of a sixth form.”

Let’s have balance at the top, says FE

The lack of female politicians responsible for FE has been criticised following a mini-reshuffle.

The departure of Karen Buck, junior Shadow Minister for education, will leave no women in senior posts affecting the FE sector in either the Government or Opposition.

Ms Buck, who spoke at the Assocation of Colleges annual conference in November, is becoming parliamentary private secretary to Ed Miliband, will be replaced by Tristram Hunt, who will join Stephen Twigg, Chuka Ummuna and Gordon Marsden in the Shadow jobs for Business and Education, opposite the Coalition’s Michael Gove, David Laws, Vince Cable and Matthew Hancock.

Lynne Sedgmore, 157 Group executive director, said: “It is disappointing that the political leadership for our sector is 100 per cent male.

“The Government and the Opposition should model their rhetoric of the importance of women in senior positions.”

Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Brian Lightman said: “Like everyone, we would like to see more women in ministerial positions and I am sure all political parties are making every effort to ensure more women MPs take on roles of increasing responsibility.”

I think in this day and age it’s very unfortunate not to have a balanced group at the top level”

The comments come just a week after Business Secretary Vince Cable challenged businesses to increase the number of women on their boards.

He wrote to seven FTSE 100 companies with no female representation on their boards, warning that if companies did not increase diversity at the top level, the government would consider implementing quotas.

Only two FTSE 100 companies have female chief executives  and 22 per cent of MPs are women, while 41 per cent of FE college principals are women, according to the Association of Colleges.

Sally Dicketts, chair of the Women’s Leadership Network, said: “I think in this day and age it’s very unfortunate not to have a balanced group at the top level.

“There may be very talented men on both sides of the political divide commenting on and making decisions on FE, but staff and students in the sector are at least 50 per cent women. They do need to be represented.”

A spokesperson for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said: “We need high profile women as role models and it’s a shame that neither the Government nor Opposition have seen fit to ensure there is a woman MP in any of the key FE posts.”

A spokesperson for University and College Union said: “It is… disheartening that none of the parties has any women in their main FE education teams.”

The Labour Party defended its shadow team, pointing to women in more junior positions.

A party spokesperson said: “With Sharon Hodgson, Lisa Nandy, Bev Hughes, Maggie Jones and Bryony Worthington representing the Shadow education team in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, coupled with Shabana Mahmood and Dianne Hayter in the Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills team, Labour has strong representation from women in the education and skills sector.”

No one from the Government was available for comment.

New president for colleges’ association

The Association of Colleges has named Yorkshire principal Michele Sutton OBE as its new president (pictured).

The Bradford College boss is due to take up the association role at the beginning of August when current president Maggie Galliers CBE steps down.

“I am delighted to have been elected and look forward to taking up the post as the sixth association president in August,” said Mrs Sutton.

“I’m passionate about the value that further education colleges — whatever their size or type — bring to individuals, communities, business and the wider economy.

We all look forward to working with Michele as president.”

“We have to continually develop the college offer and I’m looking forward to building on the work of previous presidents in vigorously promoting the sector, representing it to government and agencies, and communicating member issues and policy priorities back into the association.”

Mrs Sutton has been at the helm of Bradford College since August 2004.

Before joining Bradford College, she was principal of Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale and before that was vice principal of City College, Manchester.

She began her career as a lecturer in business studies at Handsworth College — now City College Birmingham — in 1981 and left 14 years later having risen to the post of vice principal.

Mrs Sutton is chair of the Leeds City Regional Skills Network and also the West Yorkshire Colleges Consortium.

She was appointed an OBE for services to FE and community cohesion in July 2009.

Martin Doel, association chief executive, said: “We all look forward to working with Michele as president.

“Our aim is to ensure all colleges are supported in their efforts to become even more successful and I am certain she will bring great expertise and energy to the role.”

Mrs Galliers said: “I’m delighted Michele will be my successor.

“As president-elect 2013-14, she brings extensive experience to the role and a real passion for the sector.

“She will be a great ambassador for colleges and I look forward to working with her during our handover period.”

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Guild given ministerial green light

Plans for a new FE body to support the sector have been given the go-ahead.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills confirmed funding, excluding VAT, of £18.8m for August to April next year and the same figure again for 2014-15 to develop the FE Guild.

David Hughes, independent chair of the guild’s development steering group and chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, welcomed the funding.

He said the sector now had a “unique opportunity” to “shape” the organisation which will provide training and set professional standards across the sector.

“Our implementation plan reflects what people have told us from across the whole sector, recognises the past successes and looks forward to the ambitions we all share for professional staff and organisations delivering great learning,” said Mr Hughes.

 The Guild will provide a real one stop focus for leadership, management and governance.”

“Our proposal best fits what is needed to deliver the professionalism and ongoing improvement of the entire workforce that will continually improve learner outcomes and experience.”

He said the group — which is yet to be officially named — would now be able to recruit a chief executive before its launch, due to take place in August.

“We will now establish the new organisation, agree its priorities, design new arrangements to ensure it engages with, listens to and meets the needs of providers, practitioners, learners and employers as customers, and then deliver what the sector needs,” added Mr Hughes.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “The new guild, with an overarching remit around professionalism, embracing qualifications, standards, teaching and learning research, continuous professional development and enabling networks of providers will provide a real one stop focus for leadership, management and governance.”

The proposal to form a guild was first put forward by ministers in 2011 and a small project team with a steering group with representation from the sector issued a consultation document at the end of January.

Following consultation, the group produced an implementation plan at the end of last month.

The plan sparked controversy with the National Union of Students for proposing there be no learner representation on the board of the guild.

Nevertheless, the body will be set up as a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity with board members from organisations including the AoC, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, the Third Sector National Learning Alliance, and the Association of Adult Education and Training Organisations (which operates under the name of HOLEX), said a guild spokesperson.

She added that the board would develop the body’s vision and mission around the five themes of improving learner experience and outcomes, enhancing the reputation of the sector, developing provider good practice, making the sector an attractive place to join and work and promoting and championing equality and diversity across the sector.

All sweet at FE Week

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